Ozone generators have been constructed in the past with a plurality of spaced, interleaved electrode plates, whereby an electric field established between the plates causes ozone to be generated in the space between the plates. The ozone is then driven out of such spaces by incoming gas and is utilized at a remote location. Various types of dielectrics have been used with such electrode plates. Also, the way in which the dielectrics are mounted to or placed adjacent to the plates has been the subject of a number of different disclosures. Typical of these disclosures are the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,429,152; 2,260,831; 2,309,616; 3,010,892; 3,622,492; 3,081,215 and 3,654,126.
For the most part, these patents disclose the use of a dielectric coating on one face of each pair of adjacent reactor plates. When the plates are assembled, the coatings face each other and are maintained in spaced relationship by at least a pair of dielectric posts which span the distance between the coatings. As a result, each pair of adjacent reactor plates are separated by a very short "creep" distance which is defined as the distance through which electric charges from one plate can creep toward and onto the next adjacent plate when the two plates are at different potentials. In the aforesaid patents, this distance is measured in fractions of an inch because the reactor plates are quite close together because the dielectric posts are very short in length.
The use of the aforesaid dielectric posts requires frequent maintenance to keep the posts clean. They acquire deposits on their outer surfaces due to impurities in the air passing between the plates. These impurities provide the path by means of which charges "creep" from one plate to another. When this creeping occurs, stresses are set up in the dielectric coatings which eventually cause them to break down so as to result in a massive arc-over between the plates.
Other disclosures have shown that the reactor plates of an ozone generator can be hollow for receiving a coolant, such as water or oil, passing therethrough to cool the same during operation. Such disclosures include the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,118,969; 3,364,129, and 3,671,417. For the most part, the plates of these disclosures are bulky and heavy thereby requiring considerable space and complicated support structure.
Conventional ozone generators have generally not been provided with means for controlling the way in which air is directed into the spaces between the reactor plates and the way in which the ozone is removed from such spaces. Inlet air enters the reactor region at one location and must distribute itself merely by back-pressure built up in such region due to a single, relatively small outlet. With no such control, incoming air is not uniformly distributed in the spaces so that certain portions of the spaces lack sufficient air for efficient ozone production while other portions of the spaces have an overabundance of air.
In a conventional ozone generator using coolants, it is required that the coolant be lowered in temperature after passing through the generator. This requires a refrigeration system whose evaporator is in heat exchange relationship to the coolant coming from the generator. Thus, both a coolant itself and some type of cooling apparatus, such as a refrigeration system with its refrigerant, is required to cool the reactor plates of an ozone generator when the plates have fluid passages therethrough.
Some types of conventional ozone generators cool only every other plate. This causes high temperatures in the regions between the electrode plates, resulting in minimal ozone production. Thus, relatively large plates are required to obtain a worthwhile ozone yield. In other conventional generators, only two electrode plates are used; thus, only one side of each plate is used for ozone production.